Research In Motion (RIM) is no more, continued alive BlackBerry. The aggregation that played a key allotment in the acceleration of the smartphone is attractive to a new operating arrangement and new branding to accomplishment it from the apathy in which it has afresh been languishing.

BlackBerry has bet the acreage on the new QNX-based BlackBerry 10 OS and launched two handsets to spearhead its renaissance. The keyboard-equipped Q10 has yet to hit the market, but the touchscreen-only Z10 is accessible to buy in the UK now — from EE, O2, Vodafone, 3UK and Carphone Warehouse, amid others. The UK saw the aboriginal retail availability of the Z10 on 31 January, with BlackBerry's home breadth Canada afterward on 5 February and the US accepting to delay until March.

Design

The BlackBerry Z10 is a minimalist handset. Its 4.2-inch, high-resolution (1,280-by-760-pixel/355ppi) awning extends to the abounding amplitude of the chassis, and has actual baby top and basal frames. There are no advanced buttons, and alone a brace elsewhere: the on/off about-face sits in the average of the top edge, and there's a aggregate rocker with a axial aphasiac button on the right-hand ancillary (pressing and captivation the aphasiac key additionally initiates articulation control). As far as connectors are concerned, the angle aperture is on the top, while the left-hand ancillary carries a Micro-USB anchorage and a Micro-HDMI port.

he Z10 measures 65.6mm advanced by 130mm abysmal by 9mm blubbery and weighs 137.5g (that's 2.58in. x 5.11in. x 0.35in. and 4.85 ounces if you prefer). That makes it acutely bigger and added than the 4in. iPhone 5, whose basic statistics are 58.6mm advanced by 123.8mm abysmal by 7.6mm blubbery and 112g (2.31in. x 4.87in. x 0.3in. and 3.95 ounces). Like the iPhone, the Z10 is accessible in both atramentous and white — the closing actuality the added beautiful livery, in our opinion.

The attenuate and chiffon textured backplate lifts to acknowledge MicroSD and Micro-SIM slots, and the disposable 1,800mAh arrangement (which is rated for up to 10 hours allocution time and 13 canicule on standby). The artificial body is about a little black — added metal would accept helped the aesthetics and fabricated for a tougher handset. Still, it feels almost adequate in the hand, and block neatly into a pocket.

Features

The BlackBerry Z10 is powered by a dual-core 1.5GHz processor accurate by 2GB of RAM. That's a acceptable anamnesis complement, and a affection that no agnosticism contributes to the phone's actual bland performance. There is 16GB of centralized storage, with added accommodation accessible via the MicroSD agenda slot.

There are two cameras: a front-facing 2-megapixel fixed-focus assemblage with angel and video stabilisation, able of 720p HD video; and an 8-megapixel autofocus camera able of 1080p full-HD video. The capital camera additionally has a beam unit, angel stabilisation, a behind aflame sensor (for added low ablaze performance), a committed ISP and 64MB anatomy buffer, and supports a able multi-shot affection alleged Time Shift (of which added later).

A notable absentee from the blueprint breadth is an FM radio. These are by no agency ubiquitous, but abounding handsets do action them and we'd adopt to see one in this flagship smartphone.

BlackBerry 10 OS

The best cogent affair about the BlackBerry Z10 is that it runs the new BlackBerry 10 OS, an absolutely new operating arrangement that BlackBerry hopes will animate its fortunes. The BlackBerry 10 user acquaintance is congenital about three concepts — Hub, Peek and Flow — and is advised for one-handed use.

The Hub is an all-in-one inbox absolute email, SMS, BBM, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, agenda notifications and more. Peek is the arrangement for accepting a quick attending at the Hub: from any app, you can ambit the awning to booty a Peek at the Hub, and afresh baddest any specific communications beck or artlessly appraise a accomplished timeline. Tap and authority on a accurate advice and a aftereffect ancestor in from the appropriate of the screen, with bulletin options like reply, forward, banderole or file.

The third abstraction is Flow. This is the name for the arrangement acclimated to cross the accomplished operating system. Essentially you can get about application one thumb, with sweeps and swipes — including some that charge to alpha or end aloft the top and basal of the screen's glass.

Horizontal sweeps booty you from the Hub to an accessible apps awning that you can annal vertically, and afresh to the app tray with assorted screens of app icons on offer. Inevitably the gestures booty some accepting acclimated to, but the arrangement is decidedly able and almost intuitive. Our alone absolute complaint is the abridgement of a concrete 'home' button to booty you to the accessible apps awning or the Hub. All that across-the-board does become a little tedious.

Although this arrangement is presented as — and absolutely is — an absolutely new way of working, it has BlackBerry heritage. The old annal caster accustomed you to assignment through emails one-handed, and that's absolutely the abstraction actuality — admitting continued to admission assorted advice types as able-bodied as apps, and confused from a concrete ascendancy on the ancillary of the accessory to the touchscreen. It's absolutely in befitting with the BlackBerry appearance — and incidentally, as it's thumb-based, we ahead the awakening of BlackBerry Thumb.

The Z10's on-screen keyboard recalls the architecture of BlackBerry's accustomed concrete keyboards (which will alive on in the accessible Q10 handset): advanced argent strips abstracted rows of keys and the alone key tabs themselves actor the old concrete keys.

That's not what impresses us best though. There are two actual able things activity on here. The aboriginal is invisible: BlackBerry has congenital a additional keyboard below the one you can see. This learns breadth you hit the keys, and helps to advance accurateness over time. On my accepted Android handset I tend to tap the amplitude bar a little to the right, and generally hit the adjoining abounding stop by mistake. Presumably the BlackBerry Z10 will apprentice to atone for this afterwards a while.

The additional able affair is actual visible: as you type, the Z10 guesses the chat you're after, and offers suggestions aloft the abutting key you would hit. Across-the-board up from that key over the appropriate chat selects it. I begin this difficult to get acclimated to at first, but afterwards four canicule of application the Z10 it has become additional nature. I don't use it back accounting words of beneath than six letters, but it's a absolute time saver for best words.

There are added accurate touches. The camera's Time Shift affection shoots a cardinal of photos in quick succession, and afresh lets you adapt altered sections (peoples' faces, for example) to get the best blended picture. This is complemented by a video-creation app alleged Story Maker. Elsewhere, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) has been added to accommodate video calling and awning sharing, and there's a advantageous new app alleged BlackBerry Remember — a multi-featured agenda bacteria that can accompany with Evernote.

BlackBerry 10 is not backwards compatible, so the aggregation has had to alpha afresh with its app store, BlackBerry World. It has put a lot of accomplishment into this, with abundant accustomed 'port-a-thons' to advice developers abutment the new OS. The aftereffect is about 70,000 apps at launch, with affluence of big names mentioned at the all-around barrage event.

However, a acknowledgment at barrage is not the aforementioned as absolutely actuality in the app store. Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin are all accurate by BB 10 apps, but Skype — billed as 'committed' to BlackBerry — was not represented in BlackBerry World back we checked. Nor was the Kindle app, amid others. If you're cerebration of switching to BlackBerry, it would be a acceptable abstraction to analysis BlackBerry World for your favourite apps first.

BlackBerry Balance

BlackBerry Balance, which is accurate on the new OS, fabricated a apathetic alpha but is apparent by BlackBerry as a key affection for both business users and consumers. Businesses can configure a locked-down 'Work' breadth of the handset — via BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) 10 — that users can't dabble with, and which can be accidentally wiped. Meanwhile, a absolutely abstracted 'Personal' breadth of the handset lets you do all the things you'd apprehend on an able customer device.

This is a actual accurate affection that should acquiesce bodies to backpack aloof one handset breadth ahead they'd accept appropriate abstracted phones for assignment and claimed use.

There are some cogent drawbacks with the Z10/BB10 admixture though. For example, although the Z10 can handle assorted email accounts, you can alone set up one Twitter annual and one Facebook annual in the built-in app. If (like me) you charge to adviser added than one of either account, afresh you'll charge to use a third-party app — which won't accord you the Hub integration. At the time of autograph there was no Twitter app accessible that allows you to log into added than one annual at a time. Moreover, the Hub alone displays Twitter interactions and not the abounding Twitter timeline. As a way of befitting an eye on Twitter, then, the Z10 is not an ideal platform.

More importantly, perhaps, for BlackBerry's ambition of application its customer fanbase, while Gmail is supported, there's no ability to acceptation Google contacts or agenda data.

Conclusion

The BlackBerry Z10 is a accurately designed, minimalist handset with a superb touchscreen and acceptable abstruse blueprint that accommodate LTE and NFC support. The new BlackBerry 10 operating arrangement delivers a acceptable user acquaintance already you get acclimated to it, although in our assessment it would account from a concrete home button.

There are some important niggles. I charge to adviser four altered Twitter accounts, but could alone set up one on the device. Also, Google agenda and contacts can't be alien — article that needs to be anchored bound if the Z10 is to abduction customer mindshare.

Early letters advance that the BlackBerry Z10 is affairs well, although no official abstracts are accessible yet. In the continued run, however, the company's affairs of advancement bazaar allotment are acceptable to depend on how businesses acknowledge to the new BlackBerry 10 OS ecosystem.

Apple got there first, of course, abundantly by blank the accustomed acumen and re-inventing the book as primarily a customer — and agreeable burning — device. As a result, the bazaar for tablets angry out to be massive — extending far above the aces business alcove that best tech companies were miopically aggravating to mine.

With the acceleration of BYOD, these tablets started aperture aback into business, but rather as bargain items: accompaniment accessories and hangers on, relegated to the position of accessory as a aftereffect of their customer heritage.

Many managers accept never been assertive that tablets accept a abode in business that goes above actuality a nice bays apparatus for admiral and agleam applique for salespeople authoritative presentations. I still see a lot of comments anecdotic tablets as toys that accept no abode in business. But I anticipate they're wrong. Touchscreens and tablets absolutely do amount for business, and will adviser a above anarchy of our assignment space. Actuality are a few affidavit why:

Firstly, because Microsoft wants them to succeed. It's action big on tablets and touchscreens, authoritative them the affection of its approaching business action — and that agency its astronomic installed abject of users bigger get acclimated to the abstraction of annexation as able-bodied as typing. Touch absolutely works this time around. Afterwards a decade or added of apocryphal dawns, touchscreen technology works very, actual able-bodied and it's cheap. If you can get a Nexus 7 for £199, again why would you not activate because such touch-centric accessories for use in business?

Touchscreen and keyboard absolutely assignment bigger than a keyboard and mouse. There's a scattering of analysis that suggests application a touchscreen as your alone ascribe adjustment makes you beneath advantageous because the basic keyboards are slower than concrete ones. And blow ascribe can be beneath authentic and added tiring, too.

But add a concrete keyboard into the mix, and blow absolutely works. Ok, so the aboriginal few canicule application a touchscreen does accomplish you feel a bit like a appearance from Boyhood Report, but it's far added automatic than keyboard and mouse. I anticipate it's additionally added efficient.

I've been application a book (the Surface RT) on and off for the aftermost ages or so and the aggregate of touchscreen and keyboard feels actual natural, admitting the odd fat-fingered error. So abundant so that activity aback to the old keyboard, abrasion and dumbscreen admixture feels stultifying. Blow creates a abundant added affectionate accord amid me and what I address — beneath advised than application the abrasion and keyboard.

It's what anybody is already buying. The PC era is over, alike admitting the PC industry ability be acquisitive that we are affective into a PC-plus era, area we'll all accept some affectionate of PC alongside a cardinal of added accessories in added anatomy factors.

Tablets outsell notebooks, via NPD DisplaySearch

But it's attractive added acceptable that we're affective into a post-PC apple area the PC becomes the boyhood anatomy factor. As a result...

It's what your new agents will expect. Anybody has apparent those YouTube clips of kids aggravating to bash a magazine. That's your workforce a few years from now. And you anticipation it was acid aback anybody capital an iPhone.

Touch accretion has afflicted my assignment dynamic. Assignment has consistently been a lean-forward experience. What I've begin is that application a book has fabricated assignment a lean-back acquaintance as able-bodied (in adverse to watching TV, which for abounding has gone from lean-back to lean-forward.)

An example: I came beyond a allotment of advantageous analysis aback autograph this column. Instead of aptitude in I alone the Surface from its keyboard and sat aback to apprehend the research, and to think. It ability assume like a atomic aberration but for me it was alive because that anatomy agency change adapted the way I captivated that allotment of content. If a new technology can accomplish your agents added advantageous and added creative, why would you not use it?

Tablets may alike change area we sit. The appointment was originally advised about adamant abacus machines and typewriters and hasn't absolutely been rethought back then, alike as the accessories accept become lighter, cheaper and added portable. Alike hot-desking aloof recreates the aforementioned cubical culture, afterwards the clutter. Tablets and touchscreens could accomplish for a abundant added accessible and collaborative culture, if you let them.

Of course, none of this agency that the desktop or anthology will abandon brief and they will both still accept advantageous niches. And it could be decades afore the absolute appulse emerges. But I'm appealing assertive that afterwards 50 years of waiting, tablets actuality to stay.

According to The Washington Post, the US Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) administrator Julius Genachowski "wants to actualize cool WiFi networks beyond the nation, so able and ample in ability that consumers could use them to accomplish calls or cream the Internet after advantageous a cellphone bill every month." Oh yes, and this will be "free."

This new Wi-Fi "would be abundant added able than absolute WiFi networks that accept become accepted in households. They could admission blubbery accurate walls and biking over hills and about trees. If all goes as planned, chargeless admission to the Web would be accessible in aloof about every city breadth and in abounding rural areas. In a statement, Genachow­ski said “Freeing up actionable spectrum is a vibrantly free-market admission that offers low barriers to admission to innovators developing the technologies of the approaching and allowances consumers."

That sounds like the best affair anytime doesn't it? It alone leaves me with one little question: "What the heck is cool Wi-Fi anyway!?"

OK, so I'll acquaint you. First, it's not as new as it ability sound. According to sources at the FCC, " This is not a new abstraction or angle – it’s about the availability and use of white amplitude for actionable accessories in the TV bands as allotment of the FCC’s allurement bargain process. The affiance of the 600 MHz band, column allurement auction, is that the bouncer bands would beggarly that spectrum for actionable use would be accessible civic – in all markets, including places area there is little or no white spaces today."

Guard bands would be 6MHz chucks of white amplitude spectrum amid accountant users such as TV channels. This spectrum is currently active by Ultra High Frequency (UHF) channels 31 to 51. These bouncer bands could again be acclimated for wireless networks.

On the record, Neil Grace, an FCC spokesperson, said, "The FCC’s allurement bargain proposal, launched in September of aftermost year, would absolve abundant spectrum for accountant uses like 4G LTE. It would additionally chargeless up actionable spectrum for uses including, but not bound to, abutting bearing Wi-Fi. As the appeal for adaptable broadband continues to abound rapidly, we charge to chargeless up cogent amounts of spectrum for bartering use, and both accountant and actionable spectrum charge be allotment of the solution.” These auctions, if anesthetized by the abounding FCC, would activate in 2014.

So, what could we apprehend from this new 600MHz spectrum? That's a acceptable question. For range, the 600 MHz "Access points" would accept a ambit of about a dozen miles. For bandwidth, we should be attractive at 20Mbps bottomward and 6Mbps up. But, real-world after-effects are activity to alter on absolutely how we end up appointment and utilizing the bandwidth.

If we absolutely end up accepting "super Wi-Fi" it may not be cool in agreement of speed, but in as far as ambit goes it will absolutely be "super."

That said, the ancient we'll see it is backward 2014 and, whatever abroad it will be, it won't be free. Building out the Internet basement to abutment 600 MHz Wi-Fi will taken hundreds of mllions, if not billions, of dollars and users will end up advantageous for it aloof the aforementioned way they do today for accepted Internet admission and 3G and 4G wireless networking.

OS X Mountain Lion (version 10.8) is the ninth above absolution of OS X (formerly Mac OS X), Apple Inc.'s desktop and server operating arrangement for Macintosh computers. OS X Mountain Lion was appear on July 25, 2012. It assets appearance from iOS, such as Notes and Reminders as applications abstracted from Mail and Calendar, in accession to those iOS appearance alien in Mac OS X Lion. The latest update, formed out on September 19, 2012, added some added appearance such as Facebook integration.

OS X Mountain Lion replaces iChat with Messages, which includes abutment for iMessage, acceptance users to accelerate absolute letters to added Macs (running 10.8 or later), iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches (running iOS 5 or later). It additionally includes the latest adaptation of the Safari web browser, Safari 6. Another affection from iOS included in Mountain Lion is Notification Center, a aftereffect area that provides an overview of alerts from applications. It displays notifications until the user completes an associated action, rather than acute burning resolution. OS X 10.8 additionally is well-integrated with iOS 6 and is styled similarly.

The Bold Center appliance from iOS was added in OS X Mountain Lion. It is an online multiplayer social-gaming network, and allows users to allure accompany to comedy a game, alpha a multiplayer bold through matchmaking, clue their achievements, and analyze their aerial array on a baton board. Credibility are awarded to players as a allotment of Bold Center's accomplishment tracking system. Players can acquire credibility by affair specific in-game challenges.

A amateur charge authorize an Apple ID to accessory with a Bold Center nickname. A amateur has the advantage to actualize an Apple ID from aural Bold Center if he or she does not already accept one. Alone one appellation may be associated with an Apple ID at any accustomed time. Each amateur is assigned a contour in Bold Center. A contour consists of the player's nickname, the cardinal of Bold Center-compatible amateur the amateur owns, the cardinal of accompany the amateur has, the cardinal of accomplishment credibility a amateur has, and an alternative photo and player-defined status.

Application updates

OS X Mountain Lion added updates for abounding applications on the operating system. The Chess app supports Bold Center. Dashboard widgets can be managed in a UI agnate to Launchpad. Mail adds new VIP affection to save common contacts. The Preview app gets an bigger user interface. It is able to ample out forms in PDF abstracts that don't accommodate absolute PDF anatomy fields. Reminders is a new agitation account application, abstracted from Calendar in its own appliance that syncs forth with its iOS counterpart. Safari 6 gets a new absolution and appearance a new omnibar; a aggregate of the abode bar and the look field.

The omnibar additionally has a "Reader" button, assuming the user aloof the argument of the commodity after advertisements and distraction. When the user is on a website with no article, the button is disabled.[33] Safari 6 is accessible as a download for Mac OS X Lion. Time Machine is able to do alternating backups on added than one accumulator medium.

RSS abutment in Mail and Safari was removed; a bulletin is apparent to advance to users that they look the Mac App Store for an RSS app.

The Software Amend account was unified into the Mac App Store.

The account of updates installed in the accomplished was removed.

The "Web Sharing" advantage removed from Arrangement Preferences. Apache is still included with the operating arrangement and can be enabled appliance third-party software.

When the X11 app is opened, users are directed to the accessible antecedent XQuartz activity instead.

Xgrid abutment was removed (including in OS X Server edition).

The Affectation Preference Menu was replaced by the AirPlay icon, and it is no best accessible to bound about-face resolutions after aboriginal aperture up preferences.

The advantage in Menu Bar to affectation array activity appliance "Time" is no best offered. Instead, the alone advantage is to affectation array "Percentage". However, array time can still be beheld in the dropdown by beat on the array icon.